VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) spoke of being informed of the global economic crisis being a real challenge, and several nations have felt its impacts amid the ongoing global novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

The International Monetary Fund has forecast that this year, several countries would experience an economic contraction, he remarked on the sidelines of his working visit to witness up-close the COVID-19 mitigation efforts in Surabaya, the capital of East Java Province, on Thursday.

The US economy was projected to contract up to minus eight percent, while those of Japan, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, and Germany would decline to -5.8 percent, -10.2 percent, -12.5 percent, -12.8 percent, - 12.8 percent, and -7.5 percent respectively.

"What does this mean? It means that supply, demand, and production will get disrupted. We must be aware of the fact that while we are handling public health issues, we still reel from the other problem that is the economy," President Jokowi remarked.

Hence, this calls for maintaining a balance in pushing the brake and accelerator pedals in managing the public health and economic crises.  

"We cannot push economic matters, but health issues are ignored," he noted.

"In its place, we cannot also focus solely on health issues, but the economy gets disrupted. I have repeatedly informed the regional leaders to push 'the brake and accelerator pedals' in a balanced mode. This is now challenging," he reiterated.

In facing this reality, President Jokowi has urged the nation to have the mental fortitude, as all countries, including Indonesia, are reeling from public health and economic crises owing to the impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The public health and economic crises, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, have undoubtedly encumbered several nations.

"The disease has not solely affected Indonesia since it has spread to 215 countries," President Jokowi noted.

To ensure that the country wins the battle against this pandemic, President Jokowi urged all Indonesians to stay sentient of the significance of practicing measures mandated by the healthcare and COVID-19 protocols, including wearing face masks and avoiding crowds.

Hence, the people at large must not misinterpret that since it is the new normal era, so it is unnecessary to wear face masks while venturing outdoors and practice physical distancing measures to break the chain of COVID-19 outbreak.

Coronavirus infections initially surfaced in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019.

Since then, COVID-19 has spread to over 215 countries and territories, including 34 provinces of Indonesia, with a massive spurt in death toll.

The Indonesian government officially confirmed the country's first cases on March 2 this year. The COVID-19 pandemic is undeniably a huge crisis in human history. (ANTARA)